RV bursts into flames
<p>Fully engulfed motor home at Posts Trailer Court space 28. Fire Chief Tom Wood in foreground.</p>
Earl Stevens, 78, was helping his buddy, Roy Sneath, 77, work on the engine of his 1985 Fleetwood Pace Arrow when things went wrong.
“We dumped gas in the carburetor and it backfired,” Stevens said. “It spit back flames. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The Fleetwood quickly burst into flames, filling the sky with smoke over Sneath’s trailer on 506 Park St., Lot 28.
A 1981 Mercury Marquis Brougham parked near the Fleetwood suffered serious burns and smoke damage.
A call came into Libby Volunteer Fire Department at 4:41 p.m. Within 10 minutes firefighters were on the scene. The fire was extinguished within three minutes of the firefighters’ arrival.
A pair of large picture windows in Steven’s trailer cracked under the heat of the fire. The Fleetwood was approximately 15 feet away from the trailer.
Libby Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tom Wood said he believes the propane tank of the Fleetwood caught fire but not the fuel tank.
Sneath said he was glad that both the Fleetwood and Mercury were insured.
“I’ve worked engines 60 years and never seen that,” Stevens said.